READ: Discovery of Legendary Golden Owl Ends a 31-Year Treasure Hunt
For over three decades, adventurers and puzzle-solvers have been on the hunt for a mysterious treasure: a golden owl statuette buried back in 1993. This wasn’t just some random hide-and-seek game. French author Régis Hauser, writing under the pseudonym Max Valentin, hid the owl as a way to promote his new book, On The Trail of the Golden Owl. The book was packed with puzzles that, when solved, would reveal the owl’s secret location.
Image from Wikipedia.
Hauser, back in the day, was pretty confident the treasure would be found quickly. He thought the clues weren’t all that tricky, going as far as to say, “If all the searchers put their heads together, they’d find the owl in two hours.” Spoiler: it was way harder than he thought.
Instead of a quick discovery, the golden owl eluded treasure seekers for more than 30 years! The mystery outlasted Hauser himself, who passed away in 2009, taking the exact hiding place of the owl to his grave. For years, the owl became a mythical prize, adding layers of mysticism to the search, as if the bird itself represented some deeper, unseen knowledge waiting to be uncovered. . .
The story took a twist when a legal scuffle broke out between Hauser’s heirs and his co-creator, Michel Becker. Only after this dispute were the final answers to the book’s puzzles revealed, reigniting the hunt. And finally, after 31 years, 5 months, and 9 days, someone unearthed the golden owl.
Although the location of the owl’s recovery has not been disclosed, Becker confirmed the discovery: “We can confirm that the Golden Owl was unearthed last night, simultaneously with a solution upload that was sent to the online verification system. There’s no need to keep digging at the location you think it might be!”
For the lucky treasure hunter, who also remains unidentified, the prize was more than worth the effort. The owl, which sparkles with diamonds in its head, is estimated to be worth a whopping $165,000 USD. But the big question remains: will the finder sell this mystical bird of treasure for the cash or keep it as a shining symbol of triumph?
Either way, the golden owl has finally come home to roost after a 31-year journey through mystery, legal battles, and the world of riddles!
